Republic of Arcadia
Arcadia, officially the Republic of Arcadia is a country comprising of the mainland of the island of Arcadia, located in the central Indian Ocean, sharing maritime borders with; Australia and Singapore to the East, India and Sri Lanka to the North and Madagascar, Mozambique, Somalia, South Africa, and Tanzania to the West. It is the 20th largest country in the world and has the 25th largest population, with the 2005 census reporting a population of 50,856,554. There is little evidence of any exploration by Polynesian or African natives in the time before the arrival of the Europeans, most probably due to the uniquely isolated nature of the island. The discovery of the island is credited both to Spanish explorer Sancho Crespo and his Dutch rival Jurian Van Akkeran who both came upon the island in the late 17th Century. These two men and their exhibitions didn't recognise the significant size of the island and after documenting their discovery, they swiftly moved on. It wasn't until 1713 that the true size of the island was fully recognised, after British explorer Alfred Burnleigh happened upon the island when travelling from the East Indies to East Africa. He claimed the island for the United Kingdom and it became a collection of five different self-governing crown colonies, the primary purpose of which was as a destination for Scottish emigrants hoping for a new beginning. The population steadily grew as the reputation for almost year-round summer and cheap land spread across Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom. On October 7th, 1899, the governors of the five colonies drafted a Constitution and declared their wish for Arcadia to become a state independent of the United Kingdom. The request was accepted, but the actuall date of independence was put on hold indefinitely. It was at this point that work began on a planned capital to house the political institutions of the new state, a city that was to be named Burnleigh, after the British explorer who discovered the island. The city was completed a year before true independence was achieved. During the First World War the British relied on Arcadian troops and, anxious to ensure that they continued fighting for the Allies, they announced that upon the completion of the war, the British would ratify the Constitution and declare the Commonwealth of Arcadia as an independent nation. A couple of months after the conclusion of the war, the Constiution was ratified on the 2nd of February 1920, a day now recognised as a national holiday. Arcadia abandoned the Commonwealth and declared themselves an independent republic in December 1958. Arcadia is a highly developed, wealthy country with the 10th largest economy and the 22nd highest per capita income and is particularly noted for being a centre of computing technology, with several major multi-national corporations head-quartered in the country. Arcadia's military spending is remarkably low for such a large country, ranking only 29th in the world and the nation is characterised by a pacifistic attitude to world politics, and has engaged in just one conflict since its independence and none since becoming a Republic. Arcadia ranks highly in terms of quality of life, health, education, economic freedom, and the protection of civil and political rights. Arcadia is a member of the G20, OECD, WTO, UN and AANZUS. Etymology